Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 118, May 2019 | Page 30

means around R20,000 more spent on water. Of
course, unless covered by the event sponsorship
some of that will need to be built into the entry fee.
That said there is also a need to educate these new
runners on all aspects of running, including that they
will not die of dehydration. So if there is a shortage on
sachets at a table, don’t take more; rather take one
less sachet and assist the runners behind. If everyone
works together, the standard of organisation in all our
events will continue to be world class.
want to do well, the finish is more important than a
particular performance. Thus in the Comrades, for
example, a finish and then a return for the back-to-
back medal is the bucket list goal, before moving on
to the next challenge.
Today, completing the challenge with least discomfort
and disruption to normal lifestyle is as important as
performance was to the runners of the 1980s. Minimal
training for comfortable running is the order of the
day, and it is seen in the large size and number of
training groups for and buses in major events. This
new influx of runners often run within their comfort
zone, whereas their 1980s peers were focused
on being as fast as possible, and it shows in last
year’s Two Oceans finishing rates: 53% of the 9200
plus finishers were happy to earn a Blue medal for
finishing in between six and seven hours, whereas two
decades ago a Blue was seen as the ‘compensation’
medal for missing out on a Bronze!
Need to Adapt Thinking
The sudden increase in numbers of entries has caught
many by surprise, especially with an extra 25% of
runners towards the back of the field, many in search
of Two Oceans and Comrades qualification, but at their
own pace. Returning to the basics of organisation, the
previous 2.8 to 3 sachets per runner is, in my opinion,
no longer valid. The move must now be made to
around 3.5 or even 3.8 sachets per runner per table.
In real terms, in a marathon with a field of 5000
runners, it means an extra 56,000 sachets, which
A Different Approach
Running and energy expenditure generates heat, and
the heat dispensation is not as easy for the bigger
bodies, which means they will tend to use more water
sachets to cool off, particularly in adverse conditions
or after long climbs or tough sections. The point is
that with Comrades having accepted an extra 25%
entries this year, the growth has not come from the
so-called ‘racing snakes,’ but from those who simply
want to earn the title of being a Comrades runner.
This, combined with the hotter summer, has probably
been 90% responsible for various races running out
of water, and interestingly, in most cases the race
tables have not run out of Coke or other drinks, a sure
sign it was not dehydration, but cooling, that was the
primary desire for water.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Norrie has represented Scotland, Great Britain and South Africa in ultra-distance running and triathlon, and he is an IAAF-accredited coach
and course measurer. You can read more from him at www.coachnorrie.co.za.
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ISSUE 118 MAY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
This does not make the modern attitude wrong, it just
makes it different. However, it has opened the sport
to a completely new market of body shapes, whose
efforts in running often require greater effort for the
same speed (weight to strength ratio). In general,
these runners will be out on the road longer, and all of
this makes their effort greater than the smaller runner
doing the same time.